Dates may be formatted differently depending on where they are used. In all cases, years should be expressed with 4 digits unless part of a proper title. For more guidance
Dates in narrative text (i.e., notes) follow a month, day, then year format. When citing year ranges, do not use dashes and include all digits. Examples follow:
- October 12 (not October 12th)
- October 12, 1952 (when used in narrative the year should be followed by a comma)
- September 1990 (no comma)
- 1980s (no apostrophe)
- 1872 to 1888 (not 1872 to 88)
- from 1940 to 1960
- between 1980 and 1990
- The 21st century; 21st-century technology
Normalized Dates
In normalized fields, all dates should be entered in the ISO 8601 Standard, as follows:
- general-to-specific approach — the year first, followed by month, then day
- each element is separated by a hyphen ("-")
- Numbers less than 10 are preceded by a leading zero
- YYYY or YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD
Date Expressions
If date is approximate, includes months and days, and/or includes significant gaps in date ranges a date expression should also be entered. Dates are still formatted as year - month - day, however the month should be written out. Do not repeat years or months in expressions of date ranges. Semesters may also be referenced in the date expression.
- 2014 July 12-14
- 2007 August 12 - October 31
- 2009 April 5 - 2010 May 1
- 2016 September
- 2015 Fall
Note any significant gaps in date ranges. Separate single dates or ranges with a comma.
- 1903, 1950-1955
- 1965, 2009
For approximate dates, add qualifiers.
- circa 1952-1978
- circa 1975 August
- 1892 or 1893
- before 1920
- after 1920
- 1980s
If a date is not able to be determined, use "undated."
Using the Date Module
Add new date to a collection, series, file, or item by clicking the “Add Date” button.
| Field | About |
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| Label | Label is set to "Creation" by default. The label specifies the type of date being entered (e.g., date published). Choose as appropriate. |
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| Anchor |
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| date-expression |
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| date-expression |
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Date Expression | Expression is an open text field to enter a natural language expression of the date. It is used when date is unable to be determined, approximate, includes significant gaps in date ranges, and/or includes months. |
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| Type | Choose the type of date to be entered: | Option | When Used |
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| Bulk Dates | Rarely used at file level. Date range is applicable to the majority of materials in the description level, excluding any outliers on either end. |
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| Inclusive Dates | Date range is applicable to all materials in the unit being described, including outliers on either end. |
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| Single | Use if there is only one date for all materials in the unit described. |
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| Begin | Normalized date field. Numerical value of earliest (or only) creation date in the accession in ISO 8601 Standard Formatting: YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD. |
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| End | Normalized date field. Numerical value of last creation date (if applicable) in the accession in ISO 8601 Standard Formatting: YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD. |
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| Certainty | Choose "Approximate" if the dates are estimated or uncertain for any reason. |
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